We love to go up to Maine for the lobster rolls at the oceans edge but these days our trips north always include a visit to this newish (2007) botanical garden at the waters edge. Boothbay Harbor, Maine is the picture perfect seaside town to visit on a summer day and now it is even better with the nearby Botanical Gardens. 
I was in a gardeners paradise the first day I visited and could hardly keep myself from running to see what was around the next corner in this well planned landscape. And you do need comfortable shoes to cover the different areas of the 248 acre property. The great green lawn as you exit the visitors center always seems to be filled with kids running around, some with fairy wings on! 
There are flower beds galore ablaze with blossoms and interesting foliage. The labels make it a very useful place to find plants you may want to add to your garden or to identify ones you have but forgot what they are. The pathway down to the rivers edge has amazing sculpture pieces as well as great ideas for home gardens. Down at the bottom is a meditation garden with a spectacular water feature. If it is a quiet day you can see and hear the birds chirping away. Farther along this woodsy path by the river is a summer gazebo and many fairy houses build by kids using the sticks and rocks, cones and bark they find there. You have to look closely at the ground level to make them out.
I have to say the childrens garden is the most spectacular aspect of this place. 
My grandchildren are too little at the moment and live too far away to enjoy this now but I will get them there someday. This garden has kid sized places to see vegetables growing. They can enter the little house to read books about nature. I enjoy seeing kids getting excited as they stand on the stepping stones over the creek and see the tadpoles swimming there. I especially like the little bog that is planted nearby with native pitcher plants that are thriving. 
The little dock at the edge of the pond lets them practice throwing lobster buoys into the water. Down below the path they can run over to a cave made of huge rocks while above their heads is a wooden structure with a rope walk that can test balancing skills.
This garden has become a major attaction in the area and eavesdropping on what other visitors are remarking on reminds me of the wonderfully eriudite garden enthusiasts at the Chelsea Flower Show